Raw, compassionate, and perceptive, Michael Swerdloff’s memoir RAISED BY WOLVES, POSSIBLY MONSTERS is a vital excavation of toxic masculinity’s rot—and an urgent call for individual and cultural transformation. ~Edward Sung for IndieReader
This is a story about a boy who wanted to be kind and loving but was raised by wolves and monsters who taught him to choose violence and aggression. As the boy grew into a man, he wanted to protect women, but ended up being the one girls and women needed protection from. He lied, cheated, and scammed his way through life until he couldn't.
This memoir is his moving account of discovering healthy masculinity from the inside out. His journey has been sensational at times and unbelievable at others, but for many readers, it has been absolutely inspiring. Will the hungry wolves outlast the desire to be loving and beautiful?
Can men truly change?
There is hope in witnessing the depth and commitment of a person willing to try to be better without knowing exactly how. This memoir captures one man’s struggle to transcend his past and imagine an entirely new future for himself, premised on compassion, care, and advocacy.
We do not have to be what they did to us, but it's our responsibility to do something about it.
A stirring memoir about childhood abuse and trauma, violence against women, addiction, recovery, spirituality, hope, and a balanced, healthy masculinity. An extraordinary journey that includes 10 days with the Dalai Lama, a four-month silent retreat, and a solo backpacking expedition in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia.
If you are ready for a raw and impactful memoir with redemption and transformation through personal and spiritual healing, Raiseed by Wolves, Possibly Monsters is that memoir!
Michael Swerdloff has been a Counselor, Coach, Social Worker, Community Organizer, Educator, Writer, DJ, and Reiki Master for over twenty-five years. He laughs often, hugs deeply, and practices meditation, Reiki, yoga, and dance daily. Michael facilitates retreats in New England and globally. He lives by the water in Rhode Island, which is not an island.
Jane Gerhard has a PhD in American Studies from Brown University. She is the author of Desiring Revolution: Second Wave Feminism and the Rewriting of American Sexual Thought, 1920-1982 (2001) and The Dinner Party: Judy Chicago and the Power of Popular Feminism, 1970-2007 (2013). She is a co-author of Women and the Making of America with Mari Jo Buhle and Teresa Murphy (2008) and Citizen Woman with Dan Tucker (2020). She is currently a full- time writer living in Providence, RI.
